What writers can learn from Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam ?

Ans.

Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, or as he is better known Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, was the 11th president of India. He served for five years, for 2002 to 2007 in the presidential post. Before he was elected as the president, Dr. Kalam was a renowned scientist with the Indian Space Research Organization or ISRO. As a scientist, he went a long way in making India self-sufficient in various areas of space and satellite technology. Dr. Kalam also led the country’s first nuclear testing mission. That is how he earned the nickname the missile man’.

As a president and a leader. Dr. Kalam has shown tremendous goodwill and potential towards the development of the country and the benefits of its people. He has been an exemplary leader and politician as well as a great orator, and author. His vision has been respected and honoured in the country and abroad. From such a man, you, as a writer can learn many lessons. Here are a few of them.

Creativity is everything: Dr. Kalam maintained that India needs young, talented and creative people to come up front and lead the country. He has always stressed on the quality of being creative and innovative in everything. As a writer, you should make this your mantra to do everything with as much creativity as possible. You have to make creativity your trump card, your strong ground, if you want to be a good writer. Like he said. “Learning gives creativity. Creativity leads to thinking. Thinking provides knowledge. Knowledge makes you great.”

Accepting failure: Dr. Kalam teaches us to own up to our own failure. He has always stressed on how important it is to accept failure in order to succeed. In his words. “Suffering is the essence of success.” This is another lesson you should take from Dr. Kalam-writer’s need to face a thousand failures in their lifetime. Many of these failures will try to deplete you of your confidence and push you towards disbelieving yourself. But you need to fight that and gather yourself up to move forward towards better days.

Having a vision and a dream: Dr. Kalam has always emphasized on the importance of having your own dream and your vision and working towards it. He said about dreams, “Dreams transform into thoughts and thoughts result in action.” And every writer should regain hope after hearing those words. Writers are often considered to be ‘romantic’ and ‘impractical’: people who waste away their time dreaming. But Dr. Kalam assures us that dreaming does not go in vain if you can use your dreams constructively. In his words, “The human spirit collapses not when it is deprived of food but when it is denied a dream.”

Fighting your problems: A writer’s life and everyday of it, is littered with challenges. Keeping the creativity quotient up, fighting for sustenance at the same time it is a life of difficulties and compromises. But Dr. Kalam has always encouraged to face your problems head-on and getting over them, rather than he morose about them or flying away from undesirable issues. Like he said, “Why be afraid of difficulties, sufferings and problems? When troubles come, try to understand the relevance of your sufferings. Adversity always presents opportunities for introspection.”

Humility: This one goes without saying: Dr. Kalam has been, and still remains, a figure of humility and extreme politeness. It is difficult to even believe that a man of his stature can remain this humble. He teaches us thus, above everything else, that no matter who you become and what you become, it is the most important human virtue to be kind to people. A writer should also not let his or her success get to the head. In order to truly become a great writer, you need to learn to be humble and kind too.